Intubation is a procedure where a healthcare provider inserts a breathing tube through a patient's mouth into the trachea to ensure a patent airway for the delivery of anesthetic gases or oxygen or both. Patients in a hospital setting may require such intubation as a result of obstructed airway, respiratory distress, or respiratory arrest. It also may be required in an operating room when a patient is under general anesthesia. Outside the hospital, intubation may be required in various emergency settings, such as a motor vehicle accident, a building collapse, or any other situation where a person is experiencing obstructed airway, respiratory distress, or respiratory arrest.
During a typical intubation procedure, a single trained paramedic, a physician, a Pre-Hospital Registered Nurse (PHRN), or any healthcare provider performs the intubation without assistance from other medical personnel. The intubation is generally accomplished by the healthcare provider who is performing the intubation procedure (referred to as the “intubater”) holding a laryngoscope blade in one hand, placing the laryngoscope in the posterior of the pharynx of the patient, lifting the mandible upward and forward with a force sufficient to expose the glottic opening, and maintaining the view of the glottic opening for a period of time sufficient to permit the insertion of an endoctracheal tube with the other hand.
This last step is the one that often causes the intubater significant problems. To lift the mandible for the exposure of the glottic opening, the intubater's left elbow is held out perpendicularly to the left lateral chest area. In this position, the intubater utilizes the small medial deltoid and posterior deltoid muscles to affect and maintain the desired position for intubation. If the intubater is slight of build or has an injury to the shoulder complex, he or she will have difficulty in the actual lift, or once attained, he or she will experience muscle exhaustion, fatigue or some degree of discomfort that could prevent the successful completion of the procedure.
When the intubater encounters an obstructed airway, secondary to a physical obstruction, that must be expeditiously removed, the muscle fatigue associated with the procedure is exacerbated. Under these circumstances, the patient's airway must be visualized for a much longer period of time, Magill forceps are utilized in conjunction with the laryngoscope blade, and the intubater's left hand and arm must suspend the mandible in an uplifted position during the entire procedure.
Since the patients requiring intubation are often in acute distress and in need of emergency care, the success of the intubation and the ability of the intubater to perform successful intubation quickly are critically important. According to a study conducted at Ohio state, the failure rate of intubation is about 29%. In most cases, intubation failure is associated with the intubater's inability to expose or maintain the visualization and subsequent exposure of the glottic opening that is necessary for successful insertion of the endoctracheal tube into the tracheal area. The failure of an intubation may lead to a patient's death.
A need, therefore, exists for a device and method for providing mechanical assistance to allow an intubater some additional leverage that is necessary to accomplish intubation successfully without undue delay. The present invention meets this need. In addition, the present invention may be used to facilitate other oral cavity procedures. Furthermore, the present invention may be used during a surgical procedure, including, but not limited to, oral surgery, cephalic surgery, ocular surgery, and otolaryngologic surgery.